Raveneau Chablis Pairs blindtasted '84, '87, '90, '93

A fabulous tasting. It’s hard to think of anything better to do on a hot Silicon Valley summer night than taste these perfectly cool, chiseled, aged Raveneau Chablises. I think this had to be my favorite blindtasting of the year. Nothing was bad—my lowest rating was 91+, and I thought that was a pretty exacting grade. I properly picked out the years—the ‘84s were pretty easy from the color and taste, the ‘93s were still incredibly youthful and somewhat tight, the ‘90s voluptuous, and the ‘87s I figured by default. My favorite, and the group’s (all 17 of us), was the gorgeous ’93 Monts Mains. Mine and the group’s lowest ranked, was the ’84 Chapelot. My other top wines were the ’90 Chapelot, the ’87 Vaillons and the ’93 Chapelot. Our one Grand Cru in the group, the ’84 Valmur, came in number 7 for the group and for me. It was great, but eclipsed by strong wines from better vintages. A great experience--complex, rich, minerally, chiseled, gorgeous wines. Ravishing Raveneaus.

Introduction by Ross Bott
In 1948, Domaine Raveneau was founded in Chablis when Francois Raveneau collected together a set of disparate vineyards owned by his and his wife's family. The latter are the Dauvissats, a multi-generation Chablis family that is as famous and almost as well-regarded as Raveneau was to become. The Raveneau winery consists of three unassuming 17th century warehouses along the Serein River, which splits Chablis and separates the Premier Cru from the Grand Cru vineyards (the latter lying on the north side facing the afternoon sun).

Raveneau has always been more of a traditionalist, producing a Chablis for each vineyard that he owns, each in the style that is given to him by the weather and microclimate of that vineyard in that vintage. His wines in general tend to be on the austere side when young, and often don't show that well for a decade. However, between 10 and 30 years, they open up to wines of layered complexity and spectacular depth, revealing the essence of Chardonnay which was hidden in the structure of the young wine.

Francois Raveneau's wines were known only to a few European cognescenti during the fifties and sixties, and it was only Berkeley, California importer Kermit Lynch's willingness to bring in an unfiltered wine (back in the pre-Parker days when filtering was considered mandatory) that the US got a chance to sample Raveneaus. Kermit began bringing Raveneaus to the US in 1971 and they quickly became such cult items that they were rarely seen on wine shelves until the last couple years when the production has increased. The winemaker-importer relationship between Francois and Kermit has lasted for more than 30 years.

Francois' sons Benard and Jean-Marie took over for Francois in the late 1980s, and have carried on the tradition as well as Francois' meticulous winemaking style. Most would consider Raveneau to be the first growth of Chablis, almost without peer in one of the most hallowed places to grown Chardonnay in the world.

Tonight we'll have pairs of Raveneau Chablis from four different vintages, each stairstepping three years apart from the previous vintage. The first two vintages, 1984 and 1987, were made by Francois and the latter two, 1990 and 1993 were made by his sons. The vintages span a broad array of climatic conditions, with 1984 being a classic cool Chablis vintage which for Raveneaus have aged magnificently. On the other end of the spectrum, 1990 was a rich, warm relatively (for Chablis) ripe year producing lush, deep wines. 1987 and 1993 lie somewhere between these two.Buried in our stairstepped vintage pairs is a mini-vertical of Raveneau Chapelot Chablis, with one member of each pair coming from this vineyard. Here's the lineup:
1984 Raveneau "Valmur" (12.5%) (Valmur is one of three Grand Crus that Raveneau makes)
1984 Raveneau "Chapelot" (12.5%)
1987 Raveneau "Vaillons" (12.5%)
1987 Raveneau "Chapelot" (12.5%)
1990 Raveneau "Butteaux" (12.5%)
1990 Raveneau "Chapelot" (12.5%)
1993 Raveneau "Mont Mains" (12.5%)
1993 Raveneau "Chapelot" (12.5%)

• 1993 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Monts Mains 97 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #1 (my #1) – 49 pts; 6 first places, 5 second place votes, 1 third, 1 last place vote – lemon yellow color; lovely, bright lemon, lemon blossom, white truffle and vanilla nose; delicious, sweet lemon, with good acidity and vanillin edges; long finish

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• 1990 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #2 (my #6) – 50 pts; 6, 2, 3, 0 – orange gold color; subdued earthy, mineral, candlewax nose; tasty, sweet lemon, lemon oil, with good acidity; medium finish

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• 1987 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #3 (my #3) – 65 pts; 1, 5, 4, 2 – bright gold yellow color; lifted lemon and lemon oil nose; solid, tight yet, rich, sweet lemon, tart orange, lemon oil palate with tangy long finish 94+ pts.

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• 1990 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #4 (my #2) – 74 pts; 1, 2, 4, 1 – canary yellow color; nice, creamy, mineral and sweet lemon nose; rich, solid, tangy lemon, lemon oil palate with hazelnut edge; medium-plus finish

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• 1993 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #5 (my #4) – 76 pts.; 2, 2, 1, 2 – medium lemon yellow color; orange and grapefruit peel, grapefruit oil, big nose; solid, elegant, complex citrus and mineral and sweet grapefruit palate with minerality and lots of years to go; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.

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• 1984 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Group's #7 (my #7) – 97 pts.; 0, 0, 2, 3 – medium gold yellow color; narrow mineral, hazelnut and ripe cheese nose; tasty, chiseled, pure lemon essence, tart citrus and almond palate; medium-plus finish

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• 1984 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Group's #8 (my #8) – 117 pts.; 0, 0, 0, 7 – dark golden yellow color; strong mineral, earthy, oaty, waxen nose; narrower on palate, good mineral and elegant tart citrus; medium finish 91+ pts.

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